colour in art … black and white, perfect pairing for religious art
Karen Haller
A friend of mine, Justyna Sowa, is having her first solo art exhibition titled “Religious Milk”. I noticed that her work, not only having a religious theme but each piece was in black and white. This got me thinking about the symbolic significance of the colours in relation to her theme.
The collection was created as a result of Justyna’s strong interest in the Catholic religion, its traditions, myths and also its transformation, from what it used to be 50 years ago and how it’s perceived and its present day cultivation.
Justyna was drawn to use black and white as she felt these two colours are the most capable of conveying strong ideas and emotions. “While I use bold colours to create vivid images, the black & white is reserved for works of great importance to me, when I transfer to paper my ideas, opinions, which play with common traditions and beliefs.”
“In “Religious Milk” works, the ideas represented are very strong, and there are plenty of political and religious symbols mixed together, with additional cultural references. I wanted the messaging of the works to be very straight-forward, clearly seen from the works. The use of black & white enabled me to create strong imagery, conveying important ideas, without the distraction of colour, blurring the concepts within the works.”
Colour in art - black and white. Artist Justyna Sowa Religious Milk series 'St Mary of the Trumpets' & 'When ideas fall'.
colour symbolism
When I think of religion what springs to mind is good and bad, the lightness and the darkness, heaven and hell – representing the ying-yang of life. Black representing the dark, the unknown, and the evil and white representing the light, purity and the good.
When it comes to choosing colours to symbolise this, there are no two better colours than black and white.
Private viewing details
You’re invited!
Date: 24th November 2011
Time: from 6.30pm
Address: 3 Blind Mice Bar Old Street, 5 Ravey Street, London, EC2A 4QW
RSVP: : https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=289078614455656
You can view other work’s from Justyna at www.justynasowa.com and follow her on Twitter @justyna_sowa
These are beautiful. It’s really interesting to hear the reasoning behind using black and white in this way as well.
Thanks for sharing.